Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday, 3 June, won the key Champawat bypoll, defeating Nirmala Gahtori of the Congress by a record margin of 55,025 votes.
Dhami took to Twitter to thank people for helping Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the bypoll, for which voting was held on Tuesday.
Dhami had to contest a bypoll from the seat to become a member of the state Assembly, which was a constitutional requirement he needed to fulfill within six months of being sworn in as the chief minister.
He had lost from Khatima in the state Assembly polls held in February.
In a statement after his win on Friday, Dhami said, "This victory is a command for me to dedicate myself fully to the service of the people of the state. I also express my gratitude to our prime minister whose constant guidance has made me worthy of the people's love and blessings."
Saying that the electoral battle in Champawat 'was not just about victory and defeat,' he added, "Dreams of building a new Uttarakhand and scripting a golden chapter in the history of its development were also hidden behind it."
The chief minister also stressed that he has "special responsibilities" towards the people of Champawat.
Visuals from Champawat showed party workers celebrating Dhami's win.
PM Modi also took to Twitter to congratulate Dhami:
The result of the bypolls was to decide the fate of Pushkar Singh Dhami as the state CM. Despite playing a key role in winning the recently concluded state Assembly polls in February this year, Dhami had lost from Khatima, a seat from where he had won twice before since the year 2012. He was appointed as the chief minister nonetheless.
In order to continue as CM, Dhami was required to win an Assembly seat, making the Champawat poll a crucial one.
On Tuesday, Dhami had exuded confidence of winning the bypoll, saying that the district will "create history" with 100 percent voting.
In the state Assembly polls, the sitting CM had lost the Khatima seat to Congress's Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a difference of 6,579 votes. To let Dhami contest in the bypoll, Kailash Gehtori, BJP MLA from Champawat seat had resigned.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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